video game: Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3/Xbox360)

[tambourine-man]

Just spray the bike as much as possible until you burst a tyre. Then take it easy and you'll catch him. I agree though. It took me three attempts to get that mission done.

I also agree that the bikes are a huge disappointment. The cars are largely awkward to drive (apart from a select few)... but there's no denying that the bikes are just fucked. They're horrible to handle and the fun of zipping across town in San Andreas/Vice City has been replaced with dread at the thought of having to come to a virtual standstill to make a tight corner.

Seems like a lot of the 'arcade' fun has been stripped out of the game with this real-physics platform they're using.

Speaking of which... the multiplayer is fucked as well. How the hell is it possible to hit someone at top speed and for them still to bounce back up again and pop you in the head???? Irritates the hell out of me. The lobby system needs re-working too. Being returned to single player when you quit or lose connection is so many types of wrongness.

 

[L2R]

i can ride pretty well in the game. powerslides are real fun. bikes have always been touchy is GTAs.

The driving is significantly better in IV. Awesome considering that driving is a major aspect of the game (grand theft AUTO).

Bonnet view actually make it a surprising competent racing game!

 

[SardonicNihilist]

anyone use the motion sensitive Sixaxis... or just stick with the joysticks?

 

[tambourine-man]

bikes have always been touchy is GTAs.

Nah. The PCJ's, NRG's and Freeways were excellent to drive - especially the NRG's.

The IV equivalents are just bad in comparison.

The driving is significantly better in IV. Awesome considering that driving is a major aspect of the game (grand theft AUTO).

Bonnet view actually make it a surprising competent racing game!

I agree it's more realistic, but I just can't get over how sluggish some/lots of the vehicles are... and the way even the slightest acceleration coming out of a corner leads to fishtailing. I can play the game quite competently and take corners fine now that I've had time to get used to the physics, but I do miss the arcade fun of previous series. Grand theft auto may be about autos... but it was never meant to be a driving simulator. Put it this way... this is the first in the series that I've had no problems switching off and going to bed. The gameplay just hasn't hooked me in the same way.

Bikes definitely need tweaking.

 

[PinholeStar]

Nah. The PCJ's, NRG's and Freeways were excellent to drive - especially the NRG's.

The IV equivalents are just bad in comparison.

I agree it's more realistic, but I just can't get over how sluggish some/lots of the vehicles are... and the way even the slightest acceleration coming out of a corner leads to fishtailing. I can play the game quite competently and take corners fine now that I've had time to get used to the physics, but I do miss the arcade fun of previous series. Grand theft auto may be about autos... but it was never meant to be a driving simulator. Put it this way... this is the first in the series that I've had no problems switching off and going to bed. The gameplay just hasn't hooked me in the same way.

Bikes definitely need tweaking.

Horses for courses, I guess, but I completely disagree.

I think the vehicle handling is exceptional in GTAIV. They've changed the emphasis from speed to control; which if you play the PS2 games sequentially you can see has been their aim all along. Although this has resulted in a fairly steep learning curve (I'm sure I'm not alone in spending the first few hours driving around Broker like a paraplegic was at the wheel) I also think that when it clicks it's far more rewarding - especially during chases.

There's an extra level of skill required & a subtlety to the handling that goes hand in hand with the added grit seen elsewhere throughout the game. You can actually feel the suspension roll as it rides up on a kerb, feel it grasping for grip as you desperately slam the accelerator down, feel the tire tread bite right on the limit as you feather the brake & go careering round a corner, taking out a burger stand & a fat cop in the process. What I love about it is that in keeping with the entire ethos of ramping up the realism to an absurd degree, it now actually feels somewhat like you'd imagine it would be like to drive around a city like a fucking maniac.

One of the many amazing achievements of this game is the feeling of solidity that it has. Everything has a sense of real weight to it - which for all their brilliance was something that was sorely lacking in the PS2 games - and the car handling is just another example of this.

As regards the bikes, I agree that they're initially difficult to control, but it's all about adroit use of the triggers & accepting that you can't screech round Algonquin's 90-degree corners with the pedal to the metal. Once the handling's mastered though, they're an absolute joy.

In pinning their colours to the mast of realism it's inevitable that a little of the arcadey cartoonishness was going to be lost, but for my money I think that that sensation of always balancing on the edge more than makes up for it.

Roaring across the Broker Bridge at 3am on a NRG900, lights reflecting off the wet tarmac as lightning flashes up the silhouettes of downtown Algonquin, threading through the sluggish traffic screaming along to your own tempo as Electro Choc pounds through the speakers, hanging a right onto Columbus Avenue & then flying past the bright neon lights of Star Junction. No other game comes close to offering the immersive sensations that this one does.

It's the fuckin' best game ever made. %)

 

[felix]

As regards the bikes, I agree that they're initially difficult to control, but it's all about adroit use of the triggers & accepting that you can't screech round Algonquin's 90-degree corners with the pedal to the metal. Once the handling's mastered though, they're an absolute joy.

It's the fuckin' best game ever made. %)

a) bonus points for use of the word 'adroit'
b) you don't put the pedal to the metal on a motorbike, silly!
c) word %)

 

[L2R]

note the Turismo dealership around the corner from one of your safehouses :D

 

[Trancey]

Felix, are you still having problems being on LIVE?

 

[felix]

god that was a while ago! nah, i'd just forgotten to extend my free month. once i signed up and paid for the year it worked no problem.

thanks for asking though!

 

[atri]

Does your 360 support HDMI? Or Blu Ray? How much do you pay to play online? How's it feel to have to pay for batteries for your controllers?

i dont have a high def tv. even if i did, id be fine with component. im not that into graphics dicksizing. i prefer fun games.
im happy to pay for xbox live and my battery pack recharges.

plus, my halo 3 disc wont play in a ps3

 

[phan]

Halo 3 sucks. Totally ruined the franchise.

 

[Naptown Wicked]

i dont have a high def tv. even if i did, id be fine with component. im not that into graphics dicksizing. i prefer fun games.
im happy to pay for xbox live and my battery pack recharges.

plus, my halo 3 disc wont play in a ps3

360 supports HDMI.... They gotta be workin on a Blu-Ray attachment don't they?

give me a rechargeable pack so that I can have wireless controllers ANYDAY!! Up there on my fave list on 360 is wireless controllers

 

[L2R]

keep the conversation relevant to the game kiddies.

 

[atri]

sorry
i was at a friends house this weekend playing on a 60 inch sony with some ridiculous 4,000 dollar sound system.

that was fucking awesome.
i already resarted the game and am making some different decisions.

 

[Beatlebot]

OK, so does anyone have any tips on doing the stunt jumps? I keep doing it and it keeps saying "Not good enough."

What am I supposed to be doing here?

 

[L2R]

in the other games, nothing but the fastest motorcycles could even make the insane jumps

 

[tambourine-man]

god that was a while ago! nah, i'd just forgotten to extend my free month. once i signed up and paid for the year it worked no problem.

thanks for asking though!

How come you're never online?

 

[PinholeStar]

OK, so does anyone have any tips on doing the stunt jumps? I keep doing it and it keeps saying "Not good enough."

What am I supposed to be doing here?

Basically: going bloody fast & hitting it clean & straight. There seems to be a 'landing zone' for each jump that you have to hit, & also touch down on four wheels, or close to it anyay. Bikes or something like a Turismo or Banshee are your best bets for success.

 

[felix]

How come you're never online?

cos the xbox is through in the living room on the big telly. i was going to concentrate on finishing the single player game first.

and i'm always on the computer. not just on BL (although it seems like it), just everywhere!

i was actually toying with the idea of moving the big TV through here, that would be pretty cool.

beatlebot - also, try and take as long a run at them as possible. and chances are, if you have to swerve to avoid something on the way, you'll have to try it again. possibly even abort the run to try and get a clean run at it.

 

[-Guido-]

note the Turismo dealership around the corner from one of your safehouses :D

I drove through the window of that dealership in Algonquin with a station wagon and then stole one of those expensive cars. Feels good man.